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Texting-While-Driving Ban Closer to Florida Law
Posted on Apr 19, 2010
Texting while driving may soon become a crime in Florida.
The pending laws are not just targeting texting, but would also impose fines on anyone using a wireless device with one hand while using the steering wheel with their other hand, even if they are only reading a text message.
The proposed laws making their way through the Legislature and are limited in their scope in that they only allow a driver to be cited for texting if the driver was already pulled over for a different offense, for example, speeding.
Senator Nancy Detert is the sponsor of one of the main anti-texting bills and points out the legislation would make Florida consistent with federal law that encourages states to ban texting while driving in order to receive certain federal funds.
On a unanimous vote, Detert’s bill went through a Senate committee on Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations and presently goes to the full Senate, at the same time an identical bill in the House is going quickly through committees.
Various organizations such as American Automobile Association have long supported these types of texting and driving bans politically. Over two dozen states have some ban on texting while driving, and studies have shown that Connecticut, New York, and the District of Columbia have cut driving while talking on a phone by over 40 percent.
However, one study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety cast some question of the effectiveness of these laws, and suggest there may be no indication the new laws have decreased the accident rate.
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